I had the idea today to create a thread specifically dedicated to nothing but positive and thought provoking words of wisdom and general all-around good advice. It is my intent to stop in periodically and post here to share something new. I invite anyone else who is interested or who feels compelled to share something positive and inspirational for others to benefit from. Hopefully in time this thread will grow to the point where people will be able to come here and spend considerable time reading uplifting material. Who knows, maybe some new positive neural pathways will form and perspectives will change for the better. It's worth a shot anyway.

Posts here don't have to be specific about BFS, and in fact I would encourage them not to be. I'd like to keep a more general and generic theme going, but we'll see what happens. I will kick off the thread with this particular quote that has been ringing in my head today.

“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, 'A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose'

I will just add my own personal thoughts on this quote on why I find it thought provoking. I like this quote because it is a reminder that too often we place our happiness contingent on things external to ourselves and completely out of our control. We forget that we always have a conscious choice to be happy or not. We give that power away when we let other people or situations control our level of happiness. The great thing is that we can take that power back any time we wish. Thanks all.

Last edited by SecretAgentMan on August 20th, 2015, 8:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

"Guilt pulls you into the past and fear pulls you into the future. Either way, you are pulling yourself out of the purity and serenity of the present moment, where all is well if you simply allow it to be." ~ David Wilcock, 'The Synchronicity Key'

Last edited by SecretAgentMan on August 20th, 2015, 8:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

Today I wanted to highlight some quotes regarding open mindedness. I found both of these quotes referenced in a short article on the topic, which I will link to below. I find that having and maintaining an open mind is easier said than done but has been immensely valuable in life.

“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend” ~ Henri Bergson

“We all operate in two contrasting modes, which might be called open and closed. The open mode is more relaxed, more receptive, more exploratory, more democratic, more playful and more humorous. The closed mode is the tighter, more rigid, more hierarchical, more tunnel-visioned. Most people, unfortunately spend most of their time in the closed mode.” ~ John Cleese

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." ~ Albert Einstein

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

HopeTo all the BFSers, all the registered users and all the lurkers:To all those who twitch incessantly, with hotspots and randoms that never miss a beat as they flutter beautifully throughout your body;To all those who ratchet, shake, and quiver;To all those who cramp, and almost-cramp;To all those who have pins, needles, burning, and pain;To all those who can induce a twitch by hitting a spot, stretching, or just thinking of twitching,You WILL be ok.

To all those who have had more doctor visits than they can count;To all those that have had clean clinicals, clean EMGs, clean, blood work, and yet still worry;To all those who, thanks to the internet, know more about neurology than anyone without a medical degree ever ought to,You WILL be ok.

To all those who look at their children at night with a heavy heart;To all those who are paralyzed with dread, and sadness;To all those who are so afraid of death that they've already killed themselves with fear;To all those zombies who don't truly live, but instead go through the motions and feed on Dr Google searches;To all those who come here looking for understanding, for answers, and for hope.You are not alone. Here, take this HOPE.I was once you. I am ok. You too will be just fine. Don't let fear be your master!

Like SAM says, the choice is yours. You alone have the choice to stop the internet searching, to stop doubting your neurologists when they tell you it's benign. You alone have the choice to live beautifully and freely in the present, because tomorrow is never promised to anyone.

I guess for today's post I wanted to go more into how our perception defines our reality. Most people think that they must change the situation in order to be happy. The simple truth is that they must change the way they relate to the situation in order to be happy. Trying to control things outside of your ability to do so will only add to your frustration rather than resolve it. Even when the topic is discussed I don't think most people realize just how much power they have over their own state of being and how this translates to almost every other aspect of their lives. Realization of this is the first step. Taking action to work on yourself is the second step.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

Thank you Little Lost, I do appreciate the feedback. I'd be willing to bet you do inspire people and don't even realize it. It seems to be human nature that we are far more critical of ourselves than anyone else. I think it is an especially strong trait in those who develop BFS. The sooner we learn to be more accepting of ourselves and life in general the sooner we are able to weather stressful situations with ease.

For today's post I want to share another story about the subjectivity of perception.

http://www.myrkothum.com/the-10-very-best-zen-stories/ wrote:Maybe

Once upon the time there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.“Maybe,” the farmer replied.The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.“Maybe,” replied the old man.The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.“Maybe,” answered the farmer.The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.“Maybe,” said the farmer.

This story reminds me of my experience with BFS. I was miserable and made life very difficult on myself because of how I was handling it initially. When I learned to change the way I looked at the situation I was able to learn valuable lessons from the experience. It changed who I was for the better. Something negative was now something positive. The experience simply was what it was. I was the one determining whether it was good or bad through my thoughts and my actions. It was always up to me. Every one of us has that choice every moment of every day.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

Last edited by SecretAgentMan on August 20th, 2015, 8:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

The following are just my personal thoughts on dealing with fear. Take this for what it is worth, just my 2 cents.

As many people have learned the hard way, fear is not rational or logical. Fear can be useful or even essential to survival when real danger is present. It causes the fight or flight response, kicks in adrenaline, and temporarily kicks your body and mind into overdrive to overcome the danger in that moment. Fear ceases to be useful when a real danger is not present. Unfortunately logic and reason cannot resolve this emotional state.

The military teaches troops to overcome their fears through repetitive training. When you look at the exercises in therapy for overcoming fears you see a similar pattern. There is repetition, facing that which is feared, and mental conditioning (or training) to react a bolder or more courageous (positive) way. I am particularly a fan of fear processing exercise rooted in hypnosis or meditation.

The reason I believe these to be more effective is because in both hypnosis and meditation you work with the mind in a more relaxed state where you have some conscious access to subconscious or unconscious programming. It may seem odd for many people to imagine us as having programs running in our subconscious or unconscious mind, but this is where habitual patterns of thinking come from. Our past experiences can train us to react a certain way to certain situations or circumstances without us having to consciously think about it. This is what I mean about a program. Our reaction of fear to certain situations or circumstances can be a program.

We are not helpless against these programs when they are formed, but they cannot be changed with logic or reason. Logic and reason do not stand a chance against a powerful, raw, and irrational emotion such as fear. Many of us know this first hand based on our own experiences. The most effective way to deal with fear is to address the circumstances and programming that brings it about in the first place. Using various techniques you can change the habitual patterns and mitigate or even prevent the negative direction your mind and body respond with.

Please consider looking into a fear processing technique that is right for you. Without the presence of real danger, fear is counterproductive. Take your power back.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

Last edited by SecretAgentMan on August 20th, 2015, 8:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

"If you focus on what you left behind you will never see what lies ahead." ~ Gusteau in Ratatouille (2007)

Last edited by SecretAgentMan on August 20th, 2015, 8:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

Another quote on perspective... Look at your BFS as an opportunity, not an affliction.

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

Last edited by SecretAgentMan on August 20th, 2015, 8:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

"A bad attitude is like a flat tire. If you don't change it, you'll never go anywhere." ~ Unknown

Last edited by SecretAgentMan on August 20th, 2015, 8:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

"There is no greater distance between two people than misunderstanding." ~ Unknown

Last edited by SecretAgentMan on August 20th, 2015, 8:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.